When Jonah
cried out against the city of Nineveh, not only did the people humble
themselves, but also the king “clothed himself in sackcloth”,
“sat in ashes” and made a proclamation that every man and
beast in the city were to humble themselves in the same manner. The
king hoped this would persuade the LORD to alter His plan of
destruction pronounced upon them. In chapter three and verse ten of
this prophesy, “God saw their works” and “repented of
the evil” He said He would do. We read:
And God
saw their works, that they turned from their evil way;
and God
repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did it not.
The
verse begins, “And God saw their works, that they turned from
their evil way;” The writer began with the words, “And
God” which refers to “the ruler, judge and divine One who is
the one true God” “saw their works” or “looked at,
perceived, inspected and considered their deeds, things done,
actions, pursuits, undertakings and achievements”, “that they
turned” which means “returned, restored, refreshed and
repaired” “from their evil way” which means “bad,
disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, painful, miserable and
displeasing manner, path, direction and journey”. When the king of
Nineveh, the people, and the animals within the city humbled
themselves and fasted because of the proclamation against them, the
LORD “saw” their
repentance from their “evil” way of living.
The
verse goes on to say, “and God repented of
the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it
not.” The writer continued, “and
God” which refers to “the ruler, judge
and divine One who is the one true God”
“repented” which means “was moved to
pity, had compassion and eased” “of the
evil” or “bad, disagreeable, malignant,
unpleasant, painful, miserable and displeasing”, “that
he had said” which means “that God had
spoken, declared, conversed, threatened and promised”
“that he would do” or “fashion,
accomplish, make and produce” “unto them”
which refers to the people of Nineveh. After God saw the repentance
of the people in Nineveh, He had “pity and compassion” upon them
and did not carry out the destruction proclaimed by Jonah.
When
we consider the words in this verse, we marvel at the ways of God.
Although He was prepared to destroy Nineveh, He altered His plan when
the people “humbled themselves and repented” of their “evil
ways”. This demonstrates the “compassion” of the LORD for
people. He does not desire to “destroy”, but He desires to “save”
all who will turn to Him in humility and repentance. The gospel of
John in chapter three and verse seventeen says, “For God did not
send his son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved”. God “so”
loves people, that He longs for them to humble themselves, turn from
their wicked ways and call out to Him, and when they do, He will pour
out His abundant mercy and grace instead of bringing judgment upon
them they deserve.
Next
time we begin the final chapter of this prophesy and see how this
angered Jonah, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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